Storm over the Pacific
by elektroboot98
Summary: WW2 Non-bending AU/Alternate History. It is 1942. Suki is the commander of the first all-women fighter group in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service: The Kyoshi Kōkūtai.*ON PERMANENT HIATUS*
1. Guadalcanal

**September 15th, 1942  
** **Lakunai Airfield,** **Rabaul**

Suki had gotten out of her bunk almost 30 minutes before her fellow pilots began to stir throughout the barracks. She had already finished her quick breakfast and was now applying her warrior paint. As soon as she was done, she would reread the briefing for the day's mission before heading to her fighter to perform her pre-flight checks.

* * *

Before joining the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, her mother had taught her that a good leader always exceeds the expectations of his subordinates. Of course, neither Suki nor her mother had foreseen that she would command her own fighter group. But after graduating from training in mid–1941 at the ripe young age of 21, she qualified as a fighter pilot and, to everyone's surprise, joined the battle-hardened _Tainan Kōkūtai_ , which included many of Japan's leading aces. She flew many combat sorties over the Dutch East Indies, racking up 25 kills in just 3 months. She had already displayed remarkable leadership skills, and in February of 1942, she asked for the opportunity to form her own all-woman fighter squadron. The request was apparently taken all the way to Vice-Admiral Tsukahara, commander of all Japanese land-based naval aircraft groups, who hesitantly accepted Suki's proposal.

A month later in March, the IJNAS put out a call for Japanese women who were willing to become fighter pilots under a new undesignated fighter group. When creating the new group, Suki thought back to her childhood hero Kyoshi, the mythical female warrior of ancient Japan. She subsequently decided that the pilots would wear face paint similar to the style that Kyoshi wore: White makeup, red accents and lipstick, and black eyebrow streaks. They would also wear green uniforms, as Kyoshi supposedly wore a green armored _kimono_ in battle, and fly green-colored aircraft. Thus, the _Kyoshi Kōkūtai_ , as the new group was formally designated, was born.

Out of the many women who joined the training program, four dozen were selected to join the group. In April, once the chosen candidates had completed their basic fighter training, the group was declared ready for combat, equipped with brand-new Zero fighters, and sent to Rabaul to partake in the New Guinea Campaign.

By September, they had shot down a total of 56 American aircraft (Suki herself had claimed 23), for the loss of seven aircraft and four pilots. Not a bad record.

By now, Japan had achieved significant victories over the Allies. The New Guinea Campaign had ended in May of 1942 with the successful seizure of Port Moresby, effectively neutralizing the Allies' principal forward base in the region and providing the Japanese with a springboard for launching raids against the continent of Australia.

Midway Island fell next. In the wake of numerous bombings, the IJN's amphibious forces stormed the island, taking control of its airfields and supply depots, while the carriers and aircraft of the _Kido Butai_ harried the two American carriers stationed nearby, eventually sinking them both.

But the Americans dealt Japan a major blow at Guadalcanal, where their landing forces had easily overwhelmed the poorly defended island. From there, they had a perfect vantage point for further conquest. Consequently, the Japanese sent numerous soldiers, ships, and aircraft to retake the island.

Being based out of Rabaul, Suki's squadron was often sent on escort missions, protecting the ships carrying fresh troops, tanks, and supplies to the slaughterhouse.

The Japanese seemed to be gaining ground, but the Americans were tenacious in their defense. As more and more blood was spilt, many in both Japan and the United States wondered whether they would see the light at the end of the tunnel or be forever trapped in the gruesome reality of war.

* * *

Suki finished applying her face paint and donned her green flight suit and her boots. She then fastened her katana to her waist and holstered her Nambu pistol. Before heading out to the field, she walked over to the table near her bunk and picked up a small letter that her mother had written to her. It read in Kanji:

 _Thinking of you every day, my brave, beautiful daughter. Hoping you are well,_

 _-Mother_

Smiling as she thought of her family back in Kyoto, Suki pocketed her letter and proceeded out the door to the airfield.

At 7:00 AM, while the rest of her comrades began waking up and preparing for the mission, Suki walked over to the revetments that kept the aircraft off the field. Because she was the group's commanding officer, her fighter was the closest to the taxiway that led to the runway.

"Hello, my brave steed," Suki muttered as she approached the revetment that held her airplane, a Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero.

Fast, agile, and heavily-armed, the Zero had garnered a fearsome reputation among its pilots and those who fought against it. When it had first appeared over China in August of 1940, the nimble Japanese fighter had easily outclassed the Soviet I-15s and I-16s supplied to Chang Kai-Shek's Nationalist Air Force. By the time the IJN withdrew from China several months later in preparation for Pearl Harbor, Zero pilots had accounted for 266 Chinese fighters shot down for the loss of only two of their own, both to ground fire.

Its record was no different now over the Pacific. Though the Allies had more advanced aircraft than the Chinese, none, not even the RAF's fabled Spitfire, could outmaneuver a Zero, as many British pilots had discovered over Port Moresby. In a close-quarters dogfight, the Japanese had the edge.

The Zero had turned the _Kyoshi Kokutai_ into one of the IJNAS's most feared fighter squadrons, also owing to the fact it was all-female, and the thought of Japanese women flying the most-feared fighter plane of the Pacific and wreaking havoc on Allied pilots was quite frightening.

In fact, the _Kokutai_ had become a sensation of sorts among Allied propaganda. In the wake of the New Guinea Campaign, the BBC had referred to them as "the Valkyries of the East." Of course, the American nicknames were less flattering and somewhat less creative, ranging from "Tojo's flying geishas" to "Jap she-devils."

Like the rest of the _Kokutai_ 's aircraft, Suki's Zero wore a green camouflage pattern on its body and had "Kyoshi" painted in white Kanji on its black engine cowling. In order to distinguish themselves from one another, Suki and the other girls had painted different styles of _tessen_ , the war fans that Kyoshi supposedly used in combat, on their Zeros' tails. While the others had painted one fan on their aircraft, Suki painted two on hers to distinguish herself as the group's leader.

The ground personnel were already milling about the revetments, preparing the aircraft for the day's mission. As Suki reached her Zero, she saw two men on both of its wings filling the fuel tanks. Another group loaded its twin wing-mounted 20mm cannon with high-explosive ammunition and its twin nose-mounted 7.7mm machine guns with armor-piercing rounds. The chief engineer, a Warrant Officer named Kenji, was examining the Zero's Sakae radial engine when he saw Suki. He immediately shouted, "Attention!" Every single man in the revetment stopped what he was doing and looked at Suki. Except for Kenji, who jumped down from the Zero and walked up to Suki and saluted.

"Good morning, Suki," he said with a smile.

"Morning, Kenji," Suki replied. She had grown fond of the ground personnel. At the end of the day, it was their job to keep her and her fellow pilots flying.

"You're up early today," Kenji continued.

"I wanted to perform some last-minute checks to my plane before the mission."

"Are you doubting my men and their capabilities?" Kenji asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all. Not at all," Suki replied, chuckling, "I simply wanted to check the controls to make sure they're perfect. I hope I'm not distracting your men."

"We're almost done here. Once we're finished, you can check on her."

"Sounds good. Thanks, Kenji!"

As Kenji and the rest of his men got back to work, eleven of Suki's fellow pilots began walking towards the revetments. There was no need for a last-minute briefing. They were well aware of what the day had in store for them.

Today's mission called for the _Kyoshi Kōkūtai_ to protect a convoy of supply ships and warships ferrying troops and supplies from Rabaul to Guadalcanal. They would be traveling through "The Slot," a large body of water that ran through the middle of the Solomon Islands. The ships arrived at Guadalcanal so frequently that the Americans nicknamed them the "Tokyo Express." It was up to Suki and her pilots to protect the _Express_ from any American air threat until it reached Guadalcanal.

Thirty minutes later, once the ground personnel had completed their work, Suki and her eleven fellow pilots mounted their aircraft. In order to conserve precious aviation fuel, trucks and tractors that had been captured from the Australian forces that had originally occupied the island were used to move the fighters onto the runway.

By around 8:00 AM, the twelve Zeros sat on the runway, their Sakae engines running, awaiting their clearance to take off. As she waited for the go-ahead, Suki removed her mother's letter from her pocket and fastened it to her plane's instrument panel. Soon, the man on the watchtower shouted over a loudspeaker: **Take off.** The signalman shot a green flare into the air. Immediately, Suki pulled her flight goggles over her eyes, closed the canopy of her cockpit, lowered the flaps, and pushed the throttle forward. Her fighter began to roll down the runway, picking up speed. As soon as she reached the desired airspeed, Suki pulled back on the stick, lifting her Zero skyward. She leveled out at 1500 meters, raised the landing gear and retracted the flaps, and then circled back around the airfield as her squadron mates took off. Within 10 minutes, the Kyoshi Warriors, as the girls lovingly referred to their _Kōkūtai_ , were in the air. They turned towards the Southeast to link up with the _Tokyo Express_.

"Look alive girls," Suki radioed the other Warriors, "The way things are going at Guadalcanal, we're bound to see some action."

"Time to bag me some more Yankees!" Kyoshi Two shouted eagerly.

"Easy Takara," Suki chastised her second-in-command, Ensign Takara Hayashida.

Though Takara was a well-trained pilot, having scored eleven of the _Kokutai_ 's victories over New Guinea, she had a much more aggressive and instinctive plan of attack compared to Suki's more calculating and methodical approach, choosing to charge straight in, guns-blazing. Often in their past sorties, this had resulted in Takara engaging more enemy aircraft than she could handle, leaving it to Suki and the others to come to her aid.

"Sorry," Takara replied apologetically, "Got a little carried away, _again_."

"Don't worry about it," Suki responded soothingly, "Just keep your head level and you'll be fine."

With their conversation finished, they continued on towards Guadalcanal with the rest of the _Kokutai_.

* * *

As they approached the _Tokyo Express_ , the Kyoshi Warriors descended to 1200 meters. Suki's well-trained eyes identified the large bridge of the _Takao_ -class heavy cruiser _Chōkai_. She also spotted the five transport ships carrying fresh troops and supplies, and their escort of four _Fubuki_ -class and two _Akizuki_ -class destroyers.

Suddenly, Kyoshi Four shouted over the radio, "Bandits! Eleven o'clock low! Heading for the convoy!"

Suki leaned forward a little to get a better look as ten planes approached from the northwest, smirking as she recognized the unclean lines of Grumman F4F Wildcats. She immediately began formulating a plan of attack. Since the Kyoshi Warriors had the Sun to their back, the Americans would be unable to get a clear shot at them.

 _Perfect_.

Suki leaned on her stick, rolling to the left. As soon as her Zero was upside down, she pulled back on the stick into a slight dive, incurring positive G's. The other Warriors followed suit. As she closed the distance to the targets, Suki quickly calculated her angle of deflection, 15 degrees to lead her target, before pressing down on the trigger. Her Zero shook slightly as it emptied 7.7mm and 20mm bullets at the nearest Wildcat. She was rewarded with a burst of flame as her target caught fire and dove out of formation. Righting her fighter, Suki looked behind her as Kyoshi Three shot down another Wildcat. The remaining Americans scattered in all directions.

"One more kill to my tally," Kyoshi Three cheered.

Suki grinned as she rolled her Zero into a left 180 turn and sped towards the scattered Wildcats. The other girls broke off, each Warrior selecting her own target, and gave chase.

Soon, the skies above the _Tokyo Express_ became engulfed in a massive furball as eight Wildcats and a dozen Zeros mixed it up. Flak bursts from _Chōkai_ and the six destroyers filled the sky, only adding to the chaos unfolding. Splashes erupted around the ships as burning planes fell from above.

As Suki and the rest of the _Kōkūtai_ brawled it out, their radio frequency was filled with chatter,

"Another one shot down!"

"Ha ha! He lit up like a firework!"

"Five, break! He's got a bead on you!"

"I'm hit! Bailing out!"

"Damn it, Kyoshi Five is down!"

"One more Yankee destroyed! _Banzai_!"

"Kyoshi Three, break left! You've got a Yankee on your tail!"

"Breaking! Another one's latched on to me! I need some help here!"

"Kyoshi Lead to Three, I'm on him!"

Switching to her 20mm cannon, Suki closed the distance to the Wildcat's tail before pushing the trigger. A few high-explosive bursts clipped the American's wings and the panicked pilot bailed out. Suki jerked the stick to avoid the wreckage.

"I owe you a glass of sake," Kyoshi Three conveyed her thanks.

"I'll hold you to that, Three," Suki replied casually.

"Kyoshi Lead, another bandit on your six! Break!"

Bullets whizzed by Suki's cockpit. She immediately glanced behind her, noticing that a Wildcat had latched onto her tail. But the American pilot was firing erratically, unable to get a clean shot. After deciding to have some fun with her next victim, Suki pulled back on the stick, going into a vertical climb. As she had expected, the foolish Yankee had chosen to follow her, machine guns still blazing.

 _Come and get me, you arrogant fool_ , Suki thought to herself as she climbed further and further from her opponent's reach. After reaching a desired altitude, she pulled back on the stick again, preparing to roll over into a dive. As Suki watched, the pursuing Wildcat began to lose speed and plummeted earthward. A devilish grin graced the Kyoshi Warrior's painted face as she prepared to pounce on an easy kill.

As Suki pulled back on the stick once more, her Zero rolled over into a dive in pursuit of the falling Wildcat. Once she closed the range, she pressed the trigger.

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was known for its ruggedness. Often, it could take numerous bullets and keep on flying. This time, however, it made no difference. The high-explosive 20mm and armor-piercing 7.7mm rounds tore through the American plane until it exploded.

Pulling out of her dive, barely avoiding the fireball, Suki saw another Wildcat screaming towards her. She kicked the rudder and pulled back on the stick, rolling her Zero into a tight right. She was now neck and neck with the American.

This time, Suki had the opportunity to examine her opponent up close. The Wildcat had a pinup on its nose of a tan-skinned girl holding a boomerang. _Odd decoration_ , she thought to herself. Her gaze shifted to the pilot, who looked back at her intently. After a couple of seconds, the Yankee's eyes widened almost comically as he looked incredulously at his _female_ opponent.

 _Took him long enough to figure THAT out._ Suki smirked and blew a mocking kiss to the Yankee. She decided to threaten her opponent. After pointing behind her, indicating the kills painted on her Zero's fuselage, she made a cutting motion across her throat and pointed at the Yankee pilot. She saw his eyes bulge again as he registered the death threat she had just sent him. _Enough is enough_ , Suki decided, _time for this Yankee to die._

Suki popped the flaps to slow her Zero down, allowing her to line up the Wildcat in her sights. But before she could pull the trigger, the American rolled to the right and banked away. Just then, another Wildcat dove towards Suki. 50 caliber machine gun bullets raked her Zero, ripping holes in her right wing and fuselage. Somehow, her fuel tanks were undamaged. Else, her Zero would have burst into flame.

 _Not bad, Yankee. Baiting your opponent._

Gritting her teeth as her aircraft shuddered from the damage, Suki watched as the two Yankees pulled alongside one another and began executing a Thach Weave, turning away from one another before banking back towards each other. Suki knew better than to take the bait. She had lost many of her fellow pilots to this maneuver. Still, she followed. Her Zero may have taken a beating, but she was not out of the fight yet.

For several agonizing minutes, Suki pursued the weaving Wildcats, looking for an opening. Finally, she saw one. The boomerang pilot had turned too widely, putting him at too great a distance from his wingman. Calculating the angle she needed to lead her target, Suki jerked the stick to the right to level out. Her Zero was slow to respond due to the damage it had suffered, but she managed to line herself up perfectly. As she cut through the weave, Suki emptied the last of her 20mm rounds along with some 7.7mm rounds into the Wildcat. The boomerang pilot's plane caught fire, trailing fuel and debris. The other Wildcat banked away and fled as another Zero, Kyoshi Two, raced towards it.

As Suki watched, the burning Wildcat descended towards a large island nearby before ploughing into the sandy shores belly up. It skidded a couple of feet across the sand before coming to rest. Suki circled above the burning plane like a vulture, hoping for whatever reason that her opponent would survive.

To her relief, the Yankee pilot managed to escape his plane. He ripped off his flight cap before looking up at Suki, allowing her to see his face. He had a rather handsome, tan-skinned face like the pinup he had painted on his Wildcat. As he gazed at her with intense blue eyes, Suki couldn't help but admire her new adversary. He had pulled a clever trick in their battle. She jerked the stick back and forth, rocking her Zero's wings in salute, and banked away to link up with the _Tokyo Express_ and her fellow Warriors.

 _Until we meet again, Yankee_.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Surprise! I'm not dead! I've just been toiling away in the Gulag that is high school. I've been trying to find some time to get back into writing this, because I don't feel like leaving it unfinished. Also, it's fun since it gives me an excuse to both watch some _Avatar_ and indulge in my passion for reading about the Imperial Japanese Navy. I'm still working on Chapter 2, and it's still coming along. So I'll post it as soon as I'm done with it.**

 **Special thanks to fanfic author _fanwright_ , whose story _Flying Tiger_ , _Crouching Dragon_ inspired me to write this.**

 **Credit for the Zero cover image goes to dugazm of deviantArt.**

 ** _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ is copyrighted to Bryke. Also, Takara is based somewhat off of the OC of the same name from TequilaTheHun's wonderful ATLA fanfic _Fire and Earth_.**

 **Historical notes for the detail-savvy(To be updated):**

 **-The _Tainan Kōkūtai_ , which partly inspired the ****__Kyoshi Kōkūtai_ , _comprised almost all of Japan's leading fighter pilots throughout the war, including Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Saburo Sakai. Nishizawa is regarded as Japan's ace of aces with 72 confirmed victories (probably even more, given the Japanese tended to exaggerate their kills**

 **-The _Kido Butai_ was the primary carrier battle group of the IJN. It originally consisted of Japan's six largest aircraft carriers, all of which took part in the Pearl Harbor Attack (for those who wish to know their names, they were _Akagi_ , _Kaga_ , _Soryu_ , _Hiryu_ , _Shokaku_ , and _Zuikaku_ ). All except _Shokaku_ and _Zuikaku_ , both of which were damaged during the Battle of the Coral Sea, were destroyed at Midway. The remaining two were both lost in 1944, _Shokaku_ during the Marianas Turkey Shoot, and _Zuikaku_ during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.**

 **-The maneuver that Sokka and his wingman perform against Suki is known as the Thach Weave, developed by US Navy pilot John Thach specifically to give the clunky Wildcat a better chance against the far more maneuverable Zero.**

 **-The neck-and-neck encounter between Sokka and Suki is based off of a real life encounter between American fighter pilot Lawrence Thompson and German ace Erich Hartmann, the highest-scoring fighter pilot in history.**

 **Oh, and a final note, for those of you who may not have noticed, while this is set during World War II, I'm going to twist certain events (such as Port Moresby and Midway). It's based off of an alternate history story I wrote where Japan wins in the Pacific. There are some more IMPORTANT twists that will occur later, but I'll stop here because I don't want to spoil anything else.  
**


	2. Meeting the Admiralty

**Author's note: Again, I'm not dead. So here's chapter 2 version II. A fair warning, however, this is significantly larger than the first chapter. So here goes...**

 **Update notices**

 **-(12/28/16): Restructured the chapter and broke up several sentence chunks. Also fixed a logical error and a few tense errors.**

 **-(1/20/17): Fixed a minor historical error.**

 **-(3/7/17): Fixed a VERY serious error regarding the "comfort women" and the conditions of their servitude. I sincerely apologize if any readers were offended by my original description.**

* * *

 **September 15th, 1942  
** **Skies near Eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea  
** **1320 Hours**

The volcanic peaks that dotted Rabaul came into focus as Suki and the rest of the flight neared the area.

"Kyoshi Two to Lead, are you alright."

"I'm fine, Takara," Suki replied. In all honesty, she was unharmed. Her Zero, however, had not fared so well. Apart from all the holes in its right wing and fuselage, The cables controlling the right aileron, rudder and elevators were damaged, rendering the controls sluggish. She'd even gone as far as to open the canopy in case she lost control and needed to bail out.

"There's an emergency landing strip at Malaguna, I'll land there. You head back to base with the rest of the flight."

"Understood," Takara replied as she broke away and turned north towards the airbase. The remaining pilots followed suit, leaving Suki alone as she continued on towards Malaguna.

Malaguna was a cluster of villages about three miles south of Rabaul. When the Japanese first occupied the area, they had built an airfield adjacent to Simpson Harbor, complete with an anti-aircraft battery outpost and a seaplane base.

They had also dug storage tunnels near the airfield to house various parts for Navy aircraft, designating it as an emergency airfield.

Suki descended to 60 meters and approached the airfield from the east, crossing over Simpson Harbor where to her mild shock, a plethora of warships were currently anchored.

Near the mouth of the harbor, an IJN destroyer squadron detachment lay at rest near the shore. It seemed to consist of a _Sendai_ -class light cruiser and its accompaniment of eight _Kagero_ -class destroyers. There were also two of the newer _Akizuki_ -class anti-aircraft destroyers anchored nearby, their 10cm dual-purpose guns trained skywards.

The closer she got to Rabaul, the bigger the ships got. Amid the aircraft carriers _Shokaku_ and _Zuikaku_ , a pair of _Takao_ -class heavy cruisers, the battleships _Nagato_ and _Mutsu_ , and the battlecruiser _Amagi_ , an even larger behemoth was situated in the harbor.

This leviathan dwarfed even the carriers. A tower bridge sporting a wide-armed rangefinder rose above a superstructure bristling with anti–aircraft and dual–purpose guns, along with a large funnel, a tripod mast, and a small aft rangefinder behind it. Also notable were the ship's three large main gun turrets, two forward, one aft, that each had three long barrels protruding from it.

The men on the deck seemed almost like ants scurrying around a giant colony of welded steel and rivets.

This was Suki's first glimpse of the super-battleship _Yamato_ , pride and flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. With the ship that big, it deserved both its name and its title without a doubt. Only a ship that powerful would bear the oldest, most ancient name bestowed upon Japan.

Turning towards the emergency strip, she lowered the flaps and landing gear, and leaned forward on the stick. Her Zero shook wildly as it descended, owing to the severe damage dealt to its airframe.

She jerked the column to the right to level the fighter out. Although the controls were slow to respond, she was able to right the plane just in time before it touched down and rolled down the runway until, with enough pressure on the brakes, Suki was able to bring it to a stop.

As she switched off the engine and exited the cockpit, a truck carrying a group of repairmen sped towards her. She walked along the left wing of her fighter and jumped down as the repairmen disembarked from their truck and approached the plane.

"Are you with the _Kyoshi Kokutai_?" One of them, a brown-haired man with goggles, inquired as he examined the war fans painted on the Zero's tail.

"Yes, I am," Suki replied matter-of-factly, "And you are?"

The man grinned, "I'm the Chief Repairman here. Petty Officer Satoru Iwamatsu at your service," he introduced himself enthusiastically. Despite his high-ranking position, Satoru had a somewhat youthful appearance. To Suki, he seemed a little over eighteen years old.

"So, what can my men and I do for you?"

"Well, my fighter has a bit of battle damage that needs attending to."

Suki walked around her plane with Satoru and his men following her,

"There," she pointed first to the right wing, riddled with 50-caliber bullet holes, "and there," and then to the equally perforated fuselage.

"Wow," Satoru remarked after letting out a low whistle, "Run into a lot of Yankees today?"

"Yes. Apart from that, the ailerons, rudder and elevators were a little sluggish, so I think you might want to replace the cables there."

"No worries. Should take a little under a day. The bullet damage, however, might take a little longer to fix."

"Hey, as long as you get my fighter back in the air, I'll be happy."

"Good. Alright men," Satoru turned to his fellow repairmen, "Let's get to work."

One officer hitched the Zero to the truck by its tailwheel and, with the help of some of the other repairmen, moved the fighter to a revetment to begin repairs.

"We'll have someone ferry it to your airfield once the repairs are done," Satoru informed his newest customer.

"Thank you," Suki bowed slightly as a sign of appreciation.

"Anything else you need?" he asked.

"Well, I do need to get back to base."

"We've got a couple of captured Jeeps. You can use one of those."

Satoru led the Lieutenant to a small motor pool full of captured Allied vehicles, among which was a slightly battered Willys Jeep.

She got in and started it,

"Thanks for your help, Satoru."

"Anytime."

With a final wave to Satoru, Suki shifted the gear into drive, drove off the airfield, and turned left onto the Malaguna Road towards Rabaul.

It wasn't long before she reached Rabaul. To her chagrin, she would have to drive through the western part of the township to reach Lakunai.

Rabaul was divided into two sectors, with the Japanese Army controlling the West sector and the IJN controlling the East sector.

The Army-controlled area was notorious for housing several brothels, where "comfort women" were forced to offer sexual services to the occupying forces.

Suki carefully navigated the jeep through the streets, ignoring the various catcalls and jeers from several Japanese soldiers, some of whom were intoxicated.

Life in the military had always been rough for her and her fellow pilots. Though thankfully, the abuse they suffered was mostly verbal.

Of course, there was always one cocky soldier who would try to have his way with one of them only to find himself being thrown over the girl's shoulder and landing flat on his back with the girl either long gone or pointing her _katana_ at his jugular.

Needless to say, the pilots of the _Kyoshi Kokutai_ , like all sailors and pilots in the IJN, practiced martial arts such as judo and kendo. Though such arts were often ineffective in the air, they proved handy self-defense mechanisms on the ground, especially against sexist over-confident soldiers.

Suki herself had fended off two such soldiers one night in April, when the _Kokutai_ had first been deployed to Rabaul for the New Guinea campaign. But that had been solely in self defense. It wouldn't do to attack the drunkards currently heckling her, given that it would paint her as the aggressor. And the IJA would surely weigh the circumstances against her if she was court-martialed.

So, she kept her eyes firmly on the road until she entered the IJN-controlled area, marked by the New Guinea club, which served as the Navy's headquarters in the region.

A few minutes later, she turned into Lakunai Airfield.

The rest of her flight had already landed. Ground personnel were milling about, repairing, rearming, and refueling their Zeros for the next mission.

It was about now that Suki realized how fatigued she was. The exertion it took to keep her damaged Zero in the air had taken its toll on her. Oh, how she looked forward to a nap. She dragged herself towards the barracks, eager to collapse on her bunk.

The first warrior to greet her was Takara. The oldest of the girls, at age 24, she hailed from a small town in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu Island. The Hayashida family had Navy blood in it, with Takara's grandfather commanding a gunboat during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894, and her father serving as a naval gunner aboard Admiral Togo's flagship _Mikasa_ during the historic Battle of Tsushima against the Russians in 1905.

Currently, she seemed to be scrutinizing Suki like a nurse checking over her patient. This was normal, since she often made a point to talk to each and every one of her fellow pilots after each sortie to see if they were alright. Because of this, she was adored by the rest of the _Kokutai_ , who often called her "Mother Takara."

"Feeling alright, Suki?" she asked.

"Yes, _Haha-ue_ " Suki deadpanned with a roll of her dark blue eyes, "I'm fine." Though Takara's caring nature was appreciated, at times it could get rather annoying. Especially when the recipient was utterly exhausted.

"Good," Takara's face segued into a smile, "Because this just came in," she held out a letter for Suki, who opened it and read:

 _Addressed to Lieutenant Suki Nakamura, Commander of Kyoshi Kokutai,_

 _Allow me to congratulate you and your Kokutai on another successful mission. Your distinguished service brings great honor to the people of Japan._

 _For said service, I wish to invite you to dine with my fellow staff officers and I tonight at 7:30 PM aboard the battleship Yamato._

 _I look forward to meeting you in person._

 _-Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto  
_ _C-in-C of the Imperial Japanese Navy_

This wasn't the first time she'd received correspondence from the leader of the IJN. She'd received a similar note of congratulations after the Port Moresby campaign.

Of course, this was entirely different. She'd never actually met the man. Oh boy, she was going to need to make herself look presentable for this.

But, first things first, a nice long nap.

* * *

 **Lakunai Airfield  
** **Officer's Barracks  
** **Bathroom  
** **1845 hours**

"Suki," Takara's motherly voice penetrated the bathroom from outside, "The dinner's in forty-five minutes! You'd better get going!"

"Okay!" Suki shouted back exasperatedly, "Let me just finish getting ready!"

She took one last look at her reflection in the mirror. She had traded her green flight suit for a blue officer's uniform only worn on formal occasions and she had removed her face paint, exposing its alabaster skin. An officer's cap sat atop her head, with her chin length auburn hair flowing down.

Like a typical naval officer, she had her _katana_ at her side. However, unlike the typical _showa-to_ swords, which were mass-produced using non-traditional methods, Suki's was a pure _Nihonto_ , forged from folded steel during the Bakumatsu period of the 1860s and carried by her maternal great-grandfather, Hinata Nakamura, into battle against the _Shogun_ 's forces during the Boshin War.

Her mother had presented it to her a year earlier before she departed for battle. Since then, Suki had always kept it with her, on the ground and in the air. Apart from serving as a reminder of home, the _katana_ also served as her anchor of sorts to her traditionalistic roots and her family's legacy. She cared for it with the same devotion that a Samurai would bestow upon his sword, keeping it clean and polished when she wasn't using it in her daily kendo exercises.

Suki turned away, opened the bathroom door, and prepared to go out for a long night of dining with Japanese officers way above her rank and pay grade.

What was there to worry about?

* * *

 **Simpson Harbour  
** **1920 hours**

With slight trepidation, despite her cool exterior, Suki walked up the ramp leading onto the deck of _Yamato_.

Stepping foot onto the giant battleship, she failed to hold back a gasp. If the ship was large from the air, it was truly a sight to behold on the ground. Everything about _Yamato_ , from its giant triple gun turrets to its tall tower bridge, spoke of supremacy and raw power. How could the shipyards in Kure produce something so menacing yet so elegant?

As Suki walked aft past the forward two main turrets, she saw three officers talking near an open stairway that led below decks. One she recognized as Admiral Yamamoto, having seen photographs of him. The other two were completely different from one another: one being older, short, and squat with a grey beard and the other seeming a little older than herself, rather tall and somewhat lanky with short black hair framing his face.

He noticed Suki and muttered something to Yamamoto, who turned to face her,

"Ah. Lieutenant Nakamura, I presume?"

Suki bowed as a sign of respect,

"It's an honor to meet you at last, Admiral."

Yamamoto chuckled and returned the bow,

"Please. The honor is all mine."

He took her hand and shook it vigorously before gesturing to the other two officers,

"Allow me to introduce two of our distinguished guests: Captain Iroh Takahashi, skipper of the battleship _Nagato_ , and an old friend of mine," the old man nodded towards her with a benevolent smile on his face, "and his nephew, Commander Zuko Takahashi, skipper of the destroyer _Tokitsukaze_ ," the taller officer smiled awkwardly and bowed stiffly.

"Well, shall we head to dinner?" Yamamoto continued,

"Lead the way, old friend," Iroh responded with a smile.

The two men descended below decks.

"After you," Zuko muttered. To Suki, he looked quite nervous. Either he was socially inept or he'd never met a girl in his line of work. Probably both.

She grinned before thanking him and walking down the stairs.

* * *

 **IJN** _ **Yamato  
**_ **Officers' Dining Room  
** **2000 hours**

Dinner had been a nice affair. Suki had found herself sitting between Zuko and a rather friendly man who had introduced himself as Commander Tameichi Hara, skipper of the destroyer _Amatsukaze_ , and assigned to the 16th Destroyer Division, which also included Zuko's _Tokitsukaze_ and the destroyers _Yukikaze_ and _Hatsukaze_ , all of which belonged to the _Kagero_ -class.

Through the conversations with the two, she had learned some interesting things about Zuko himself. From what he'd told her, at age twenty-six, he was apparently the youngest destroyer skipper in the entire Navy and the _Tokitsukaze_ was his first command.

Whilst discussing his past, Suki's eyes had drifted a scar that ran across his left cheek and looked like it had been administered by a blade of some sort. Zuko had noticed her staring and seemed to tense up. Perhaps it brought him shame to talk about it. So she had averted her gaze from his injury and let him continue telling his life's story.

After graduating from Etajima in 1935, he'd originally served as a torpedo gunner aboard the destroyer _Sazanami_ , a member of the revolutionary _Fubuki_ -class, and had taken part in several tests of the Navy's Type 93 oxygen-driven torpedo.

It was there that he'd met Hara, whom Zuko had apparently grown to idolize after having read the former's doctrine on torpedo warfare. After several long debates over the strategies that Hara had put forth in his manual, the two had struck up a rapport that over time evolved into a friendly teacher-student relationship, with Hara helping to mentor the younger Zuko in both torpedo warfare and commanding a destroyer of his own.

In fact, after Hara had assumed command of _Amatsukaze_ in April of 1940, Zuko had served as his XO for eight months before he was given command of _Tokitsukaze_ that December.

Their conversations had then segued into combat histories, with both Zuko and Hara regaling Suki with stories of several battles they'd taken part in. It seemed DesDiv 16 had seen plenty of action, having accompanied the invading forces of both the Philippines in late December of 1941 and the Dutch East Indies in early 1942 (they'd paused to hear her tales of serving with the Tainan Kokutai, given that she'd helped them provide top cover during the East Indies invasion).

The division had even participated in the Battle of the Java Sea and had helped save the light aircraft carrier _Ryujo_ from certain destruction in the Eastern Solomons. Suki felt mildly surprised that they could talk about such experiences with such gusto, especially given their long service record. She would have expected them to sound weary.

The food had been absolutely delicious, which was probably to be expected of the Combined Fleet's Commander-in-Chief. Suki had marveled at the delicacies that the Japanese Navy afforded its surface fleet officers. It was a far cry from the kind of bland food that she and her fellow pilots usually ate in the mess hall at Lakunai. Even the sake had tasted better, though Yamamoto had only allowed one small glass for each officer.

Now, Yamamoto, who sat at the end of the table, cleared his throat, causing everyone else present to fall silent.

"Now then, I wish to discuss the plans for our newest operation."

Suki looked towards Zuko with a raised eyebrow. Yamamoto's letter hadn't mentioned anything about a battle meeting. One of the officers sitting to Yamamoto's right glanced between her and his superior before clearing his throat awkwardly,

"Sir? Shouldn't we wait for-," another glance at Suki, " _her_ to leave first?"

Yamamoto shook his head.

"Nonsense, Watanabe. As commander of one of the navy's best fighter squadrons, the Lieutenant should attend."

Watanabe scoffed, looking at Suki with apparent contempt.

Suki felt a brief spell of anger and indignation bubble up within as she glared back at Watanabe. Even in the Navy's upper ranks, the sexist culture still persisted. Granted she was often used to being ignored, but never had she been openly derided in front of someone as high-ranking as Yamamoto.

Calming herself, she averted her gaze from Watanabe and instead directed her attention to the C-in-C.

"What is this operation you mentioned, sir?"

"Our next invasion of Guadalcanal." Yamamoto replied, "Also, Lieutenant Nakamura, I wish to apologize for not explicitly telling you of this in my letter."

Suki felt utterly perplexed. Had the Commander-in-Chief of the entire Navy just apologized to her?

"A-apology accepted, sir."

"Before we discuss the invasion plan itself, Iroh," Yamamoto directed his gaze to the older man, who sat a couple of seats down the table, "You have something you wished to report, correct?"

Iroh nodded and produced a pink-colored folder from somewhere under the table. He passed it to the officer, who passed it up the table. Meanwhile, he began addressing the C-in-C,

"The reconnaissance flight from Sumatra has returned with reports on the enemy's defenses at Guadalcanal."

"I see. What do they say?" Yamamoto replied as he opened the folder and perused the document inside.

"They couldn't get close to Henderson Field for fear of being intercepted. They were, however, able to confirm a rather large presence of American warships in the area."

Iroh placed what looked like several photographs and slid them down the table to Yamamoto.

"Based on their reports, we estimate at least one aircraft carrier, two battleships, probably a _North Carolina_ and a _South Dakota_ , seven cruisers, and twelve destroyers."

"I see," Yamamoto examined the photos closely. "Your thoughts?"

The old captain stroked his beard contemplatively as he conveyed his thoughts,

"Considering that we've sunk three of their carriers, _Lexington_ , _Yorktown_ , and _Hornet_ , and that we've supposedly put the _Enterprise_ out of action, it's most likely that the carrier located in the region is either the _Wasp_ or the _Saratoga_. Either way, I would advise caution when engaging the carrier and its aircraft."

"And the battleships?" Yamamoto pressed further.

"From the intelligence reports our spies have gathered, the _North Carolina_ and _South Dakota_ classes are some of the best battleships that the Americans currently have."

Suki heard one of the officers sitting across from her snort and she spared him a brief glance. From what Yamamoto had told her, this man was the _Yamato_ 's commanding officer: Rear Admiral Gehiichi Takayanagi.

"Something you'd like to add, Rear Admiral Takayanagi?" Yamamoto questioned, a stony glare on his face.

"Yes, there is," Takayanagi retorted arrogantly, "What need is there to worry about how powerful the Americans' battleships are? My ship mounts the most powerful guns ever fitted to a vessel! Why I could destroy those Yankee dogs from twenty kilometers away!" He slammed his hand on the table as he turned to face Iroh, who remained calm as ever while Takayanagi badgered him with another question, "What advantage could those pitiful ships possibly have over the might of _Yamato_?"

After taking a deep, calming breath, Iroh uttered an answer that silenced the overconfident officer,

"Radar."

Takayanagi looked absolutely befuddled. Iroh seemed to take this as his cue to continue,

"While both the _North Carolinas_ and the _South Dakotas_ have guns less powerful than those we have mounted on _Yamato_ , the Americans have equipped both battleships with radar systems, a luxury that almost all of our ships lack. So even if your ship has superior guns, not only will the American warships see you before you get into firing range, but they'll also score more hits than you.

"Furthermore, all six ships mount nine 16-inch guns, one more barrel than our _Nagatos_. They have a tactical advantage over our most powerful battleship and an armament superior to our second best battleships. **(A/N: Note that _Amagi_ is a battlecruiser, not a battleship)** _That_ is why the _North Carolinas_ and the _South Dakotas_ are the best battleships the Americans possess."

Takayanagi scoffed once more.

"I still fail to see the importance of understanding these ships."

"Sun Tzu tells us 'he who knows his enemies and knows himself shall not be imperiled in a thousand battles.' As the commander of our Navy's most powerful warship, you would do well to remember that, Takayanagi. Otherwise, you could make a blunder that could jeopardize the life of every sailor and officer on board!"

It seemed it was highly unusual for Iroh to get angry. From what Suki saw, all of the officers, with the exception of Zuko and Yamamoto, seemed shocked at the older man's outburst. Even Takayanagi staggered back, his arrogance receding like the tides.

"Now then, Iroh," Yamamoto said, "Would you care to explain more about the American radar?"

"Gladly," Iroh curtly replied as he turned away from a subdued Takayanagi.

"From photos provided by our intelligence department, the American battleships mount their radar systems on the rear of their conning towers. While it does provide them an advantage in night fighting, if we can take their radar out, it will level the battlefield."

"Do you have a plan for ensuring this?"

"Yes, I do. It is my understanding," Iroh turned towards Zuko and Hara, "that our destroyers are capable of firing illumination shells."

Both destroyer skippers nodded in affirmation.

"What do you have in mind, Uncle?" Zuko inquired.

"The task I have in mind will require no small amount of courage on your part, nephew," Iroh replied with a smirk, earning him a roll of the eyes from the two men.

"You will need to get close enough to within firing range of the battleships and fire illuminating shells. That way, our gunners will have a clean shot."

"Well, Hara?" Yamamoto questioned, "Do you and Commander Takahashi think you can accomplish this?"

The two of them shared a glance before Hara nodded and replied,

"Yes, sir. We do however have one, shall we say, 'ace up our sleeve.'" Before we sailed here from Truk, we were joined by the four ships of Destroyer Division 17. One of their ships, the _Hamakaze_ , is equipped with radar capable of detecting large ships at 35 kilometers away. We can use her to search for the battleships and guide the rest of our destroyers to the target."

"Excellent. But this will be dangerous. The guns on these battleships can deal severe damage to your destroyers once you are in range. You're free to launch torpedo attacks as soon as you have the enemy in sight.

"However, should you feel that your ships are in danger, you may withdraw from the action. While sinking these battleships is important, both your ships and the lives of both yourselves and your crews are just as important."

"Understood, sir," Zuko acknowledged with a determined countenance.

"Additionally," Yamamoto murmured, "We must address a numerical disparity. While we have the advantage in battleships and carriers, it seems the Americans have us outgunned when it comes to cruisers and destroyers. They have seven cruisers to our three, and twelve destroyers to our ten And if the Akizukis are to protect our carriers, that leaves us with only eight."

He turned to the officer sitting to the left of him, "Kondo, can we perhaps gather additional reinforcements?"

Vice-Admiral Nobutake Kondo nodded, produced a map and laid it out on the table.

"Three _My_ _ō_ _k_ _ō_ _s_ of Cruiser Division 5 are currently anchored in Truk, along with, among other ships, the battleships _Musashi_ , _Hiei_ , and _Kirishima_ , two _Mogamis_ from Cruiser Division 7 and eight destroyers, five _Kager_ _ōs_ and three _Y_ _ūgumos_ , of Destroyer Squadron 10, along with an _Agano_ serving as the destroyer leader.

"I can requisition the cruisers and the destroyers. That will give us seven heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and sixteen destroyers. It should take them a little under a day to arrive. I can also put the battleships on standby in case their assistance is required."

"Excellent. Have the order sent to Truk immediately. And one more thing. See if you can requisition _Hiei_ and _Kirishima_ as well. They're the only battleships that can keep pace with our carriers, and I want them to protect _Sh_ _ō_ _kaku_ and _Zuikaku_."

"Yes, sir." Kondo stood from his chair, bowed towards Yamamoto, and exited the cabin.

"Now, we must discuss the situation in the air."

Suki noticed Yamamoto turning his gaze towards her. Suddenly, she felt herself stiffen involuntarily.

 _Calm down, Suki. Just don't do anything stupid._

"Lieutenant Nakamura. You and your squadron have engaged the so-called 'Cactus Air Force' in the past. What can you tell us about them?"

She took a deep breath to compose herself.

"While the Cactus Air Force does fly inferior aircraft, its pilots are highly skilled. I would go as far to say that they are some of the best opponents we have ever faced."

"How?"

A memory of her duel with the two Wildcats earlier today came to mind.

"They utilize unorthodox tactics that negate the advantages our aircraft hold over theirs."

"Such as?"

"Many of their tactics involve baiting, where one aircraft lures a Zero onto his tail while another American lines up a shot on the Zero. One such tactic is a weave maneuver, which I encountered today."

"Tell us more about this 'weave maneuver'." Yamamoto ordered.

Suki nodded and used her hands to simulate the maneuver.

"The two Yankees start out side by side. When a Zero latches on to either one of them, they turn in towards one another. After they cross paths and fly on for a certain distance, they turn back towards one another and repeat the maneuver. If the Zero follows one of the Yankees through the maneuver, the other will have a shot at it when they cross paths."

"So the difficulty that our pilots face is getting a clean shot at the Americans without putting themselves in danger of being shot down in return," Iroh observed.

"Yes, sir. That is the main problem, and it's cost me many of my squadronmates ever since we first encountered these Yankees." Suki replied.

"Lieutenant," Yamamoto said, "You and your squadron will be accompanying the fighter forces from _Shokaku_ and _Zuikaku_. During the time we prepare for this invasion, you are to train with them. Instruct them on the tactics that you've shown us."

"Understood, sir."

"We'll also be sending in additional fighter and bomber squadrons. If my memory serves me correctly, the _Tainan Kokutai_ are due to return to Rabaul tomorrow."

Suki felt positively elated at the prospects of seeing her old comrades. She grinned as she addressed Yamamoto once more.

"It will be an honor to fight alongside them again, sir."

"I'm sure it will," Yamamoto reassured her.

The cabin door opened as Admiral Kondo walked back in and sat back down next to Yamamoto.

"The order has been sent, sir," he addressed his superior, "And your request for both _Hiei_ and _Kirishima_ has been approved."

"Excellent," Yamamoto replied, "I will now explain the first phase of our operation. This calls for the flotilla to steam ahead to Guadalcanal and destroy the American warships anchored in the area. We can go into specifics later, but the aircraft carrier and battleships are our priority targets.

"Once that is done, while we wait for the IJA transport ships to arrive, we harass the American defenders as much as we can. We can use _Yamato_ , _Nagato_ , and _Mutsu_ to bombard their inland defenses.

"Our air forces will need to support the soldiers currently deployed to the island, maintain air superiority over it, and protect the flotilla from any additional attackers."

"Any questions?" Yamamoto asked. None of the other officers said anything. Perhaps they were all tired.

"Preparations and training will commence tomorrow at 0900 hours. If all goes according to plan, we set sail for Guadalcanal on the 18th. You are dismissed."

Suki stood up with the rest of the officers, bowed, and followed Zuko and Hara out of the cabin.

* * *

 **Lakunai Airfield  
** **Officer's Barracks  
** **Suki's bunk  
** **2120 hours**

"So how did the dinner go?" Takara whispered from across the room.

"It was good," Suki muttered as she climbed into her bunk, "I'll tell you the specifics tomorrow."

"Alright, G'night."

"Night."

Suki closed her eyes and nestled into her bunk, both eager for sleep and anxious for the days to come.

Her mind was already churning with all the possible outcomes of the battle. Either this would be an easy victory for the IJN, a pyrrhic victory with significant losses on both sides but with Guadalcanal taken back, or an outright disaster with the entire flotilla being destroyed at the hands of additional American reinforcements.

Either way, with Guadalcanal serving as both the only American stronghold in the Southeast Asian region and an excellent vantage point for further conquest, the fate of the Japanese Empire would be decided with this coming battle.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Whew! What a long chapter! I feel like I owe you all an apology for my absence, but at the same time I feel like I don't, given that I've endured my senior year of High School, which justifies it entirely.**

 **First, I wish to address the addition of new characters from the show:**

 **-Yes, I made Zuko and Iroh Japanese. Why? Well, it's for three reasons.**

 **-First, the Fire Navy's ships kind of remind me a little of the IJN's ships.** **Personally, I feel that the fact that some of the Fire Navy's ships (such as Azula's) have pagoda towers for their bridges is an homage to the superstructures of some of the WWII Japanese battleships, which were essentially a tower of platforms with watch points and searchlights, often referred to as "pagoda masts."**

 **-Second, this decision was largely based off of reading Destiny-Smasher's fanfic** _ **What I Learned at SRU**_ **, where all the ATLA characters are at a university, and Zuko, Iroh, and Azula are all Japanese and have the last name Kurosawa.**

 **-Finally, Mako Iwamatsu, the voice of Iroh, also happened to play the role of Isoroku Yamamoto in the otherwise abominable film** _ **Pearl Harbor**_ **.  
**

 **-Satoru was pretty much a given, as his name is very Japanese. I also wanted to throw in a bit of his mechanical genius side by making him the head of Malaguna's repair crews.**

 **And for the "real life" characters:**

 **-Isoroku Yamamoto was very much a given. He's C-in-C of the Combined Fleet and one of the most easily recognizable figureheads in the IJN.**

 **-So was Nobutake Kondo, given that he commanded the IJN force that took part in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.**

 **-The fact that I made Gehiichi Takayanagi arrogant is in no way a reflection of his real-life service record, which unfortunately I have little information on. In all honesty, however, if one were commanding the most powerful battleship ever built, he would probably be at least somewhat over-confident.**

 **-Since I was adding the Japanese destroyer force to the mix with Zuko, who better to add alongside him than one of the most famous destroyer captains of the war: Tameichi Hara. I'd also read his autobiography, _Japanese Destroyer Captain_ , and I was reminded a bit of Master Piandao's backstory in ATLA. Both men were skilled in their craft, yet also highly critical of their respective nations. Just as Piandao is a master swordsman yet doesn't see eye-to-eye with the Fire Nation, Hara was a remarkable tactician in destroyer and torpedo warfare but he also criticized Japan's handling of the Pacific War. Given that Piandao taught Zuko how to use his dual dao swords, I figured I would make Hara his mentor for commanding his own destroyer in my story.**

 **Also, I must apologize for sudden jump to the cabin, but I have no information regarding the interior layout of** _ **Yamato**_ **. Considering that her remains at the bottom of the East China Sea are slowly sinking into the sand, it's unlikely that such information will ever surface.**

 **Further, as far as historical changes go, the battlecruiser _Amagi_ makes her appearance. In real life, she was never completed because her hull was severely damaged in the Great Earthquake of 1923. Here she appears as she does in the popular game _World of Warships_ , sporting ten 16-inch guns and a pagoda mast akin to that on _Nagato_.**

 **Oh, another thing,** _ **Haha-ue**_ **means "mother" in Japanese.**

 **Finally, the Sun Tzu quote that Iroh uses comes from** _ **The Art of War**_ **.**

 **I know I've already apologized for the delay, but I'm afraid chapter 3 will also take a rather long amount of time to finish. I've already started on it, but it does take a while to write naval battles.**

 **Anyways, read and review, and I will catch you all next time.**

 **One more thing with regards to my other story, _Trial By Fire_. Though this is my longest story, I'm afraid I'll be putting it in the back burner for the time being. Mainly because it no longer makes as much sense for Zuko, Iroh, and Azula to all be German. I'll do some more tinkering with it. But for now, it's on temporary hold.**


	3. Preparations (IJN Part 1)

**A/N: Hello readers! Before I get started with this chapter, there are two things I wish to get out of the way.**

 **First off, I wish to apologize for taking so long to update this story. I know six months is a rather long time, but I've been overwhelmed with getting started and settled in with college and even then, it's been rather difficult to find the time to get back to work on this story. See the thing is, it takes longer for me to write historical fiction because I have to devote extra time to gathering information on the historical aspects of such a story, even if I am a military history buff.**

 **Second, this next part of the story is going to be written in separate parts. Following advice given to me by the ever-helpful fanfic user/history buff _axel100_ , this next part is going to be covering the preparations leading up to the climactic battle at Guadalcanal. I figure such a topic can be rather lengthy, so the plan is for it to span several chapters. I already know I'm going to cover the Japanese gearing up for the battle (Since that's the side Suki is on), but I'm still trying to decide whether I should include the Americans as well. I'm currently leaning towards yes.**

 **Anyways, without further ado...**

* * *

 **September 16** **th** **, 1942  
** **1340 hours  
** **Malaguna Emergency Airfield  
** **Mess Hall**

 _What a crazy day it's been_ , Satoru thought to himself as he finished his well-deserved lunch _, And it's not even noon!_

To say he and his men had been working their tails off would've been a gross understatement. The morning had stared at around 7:15 with ferrying the _Kyoshi_ pilot's Zero back to Lakunai Airfield. The men had then spent the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 performing repairs on seven G4M twin-engine bombers that had returned from an eleven-plane raid on Henderson Field.

All of them had suffered varying degrees of damage, with three of them landing at the field with only one operational engine. If not for the pressing need for airworthy bombers, Satoru would have had them written off.

At 10:15, some of the men had been sent up north to the Sulphur Creek Seaplane Base to help overhaul several H6K and H8K flying boats in preparation for an upcoming raid on the American warships in the Solomon Islands. Though performing maintenance on those four-engined behemoths had been back-breaking work, the men were rewarded for their efforts with a nice bath in the nearby hot springs.

And as if the day hadn't been hectic enough for the repair teams, around 11:45 or so, one of _Shōkaku_ 's new B6N _Tenzan_ torpedo-bombers had apparently developed engine trouble while on a practice exercise and had been forced to make an emergency landing at their airfield.

However, because the aircraft had only recently been introduced into service, Satoru and his repairmen didn't have a surplus stock of the Mitsubishi Kasei engine that the _Tenzan_ used, nor did they have any experience with performing maintenance on it.

Thus, Satoru had driven all the way up to Simpson Harbour, managed to convince _Shōkaku_ 's captain to lend him a couple of the carrier's repairmen and the parts necessary to repair the _Tenzan_ 's engine, ferried both of them back to Malaguna, painstakingly studied the process of repairing this new torpedo-bomber (as the men from _Shōkaku_ did the actual work, of course), let out a sigh of relief as the _Tenzan_ 's engine started, and returned the repairmen, along with the _Tenzan_ and its crew, to their carrier.

After returning to the base for the final time, his wristwatch reading 13:00, he'd granted his men, who looked about as exhausted as he did, time to eat lunch and relax.

He looked around the hall. Most of his men were still eating and conversing with each other.

For a moment, everything seemed quiet. Until the door leading outside to the airfield burst open.

In came Satoru's assistant, Petty Officer Daisuke "Dai" Fukumoto, looking for all the world as exhausted as someone who'd serviced every single aircraft in Rabaul.

"Satoru!" he called out breathlessly.

"What is it, Dai?"

"A bunch of fighters just landed on the airstrip! I think one of the pilots wants to speak to you!"

Though Satoru's face appeared neutral, he felt frustrated. _Why now?! Can't this wait?_

After gesturing for Dai to go get some lunch of his own, he got up with a sigh and walked out the door to the airfield.

 _Man, Dai wasn't kidding!_

No less than two-dozen Zeros, along with about twenty of the new J1N _Gekko_ night-fighters, had landed at the airfield. Some had already been moved to unoccupied revetments while others sat on the runway.

What caught his attention, though, was that each Zero had a blue stripe running diagonally down both sides of its fuselage, a pattern that he'd seen before.

 _No! It couldn't be..._

He blinked, just to make sure he was hallucinating. It wasn't the case. If the pictures he'd seen in news clippings were accurate, then these Zeros, and possibly the _Gekkos_ , belonged to none other than the _Tainan Kōkūtai_.

It took Satoru a couple of seconds to notice a pilot, still dressed in his flying gear, walking towards him.

The man stopped in front of him and removed his flight cap and goggles, revealing a steely face that he had seen numerous times in news reports covering the war.

He watched, in a trance, as Warrant Officer Hiroyoshi Nishizawa scrutinized him before inquiring, "Are you the Chief Repairman here?"

"Y-yes," Satoru stammered out, struggling to contain his excitement over the fact that one of Japan's most famous air groups had landed at his repair field and that one of its many crack pilots was here speaking to him. He felt as giddy as a schoolboy.

"Good. Because our aircraft are due for major repairs."

"Like what?" Satoru asked enthusiastically, more than happy to service a renowned ace.

"Well, for one thing, they need new radios."

"Wait, why?"

"Because we tore our old ones out," Nishizawa said disdainfully, "Stupid things wouldn't work."

With that, Satoru's enthusiasm vanished, exasperation quickly taking its place. He groaned rather audibly and pinched the bridge of his nose. _How the hell am I supposed to procure over forty radios?!_

As he looked once more at Nishizawa's sheepish expression, however, his frustration waned somewhat. It was common knowledge that the radios on Japanese aircraft were somewhat lacking and prone to failure. And venting his anger at the pilot would do no good.

"Alright. I'll see what we can do to replace them. Anything else?"

"Other than that, some bullet damage needs patching and some of our planes' engines need overhauling."

 _Well that should be easy. If the technical reports are correct, then the Gekko uses the same engines as the Zero._

Satoru grinned, "Well, my men and I are on our lunch break, but we can get started as soon as we're finished. In the meantime, however, you and your pilots are more than welcome to join us in the mess hall."

Nishizawa bowed, "That would be most appreciated. I will inform the rest of the pilots of your proposition."

As the legendary ace walked back towards the aircraft, Satoru couldn't believe his luck.

 _My boys and I are going to service the finest fighter pilots in all of Japan!_

If he lived to make it back to the Home Islands, this would be the story of a lifetime for his family.

* * *

 **1355 hours  
** **Skies above Duke of York Islands  
** **32.6 kilometers East of Rabaul  
** **Altitude: 9,000 meters**

If an American plane were to happen upon the skies above the Duke of York Islands at this given moment, its pilot would do well to make a break for it. After all, no one would want to be in the sights of a Zero, let alone thirty of them,

On the other hand, assuming the American pilot had a camera on him, he wouldn't have had a better photo opportunity: A bunch of Zeros mimicking the very tactic Wildcat pilots had developed to counter the deadly Japanese fighter.

Suki had spent most of her day drilling the _Kyoshi Kōkūtai_ on combating the weave maneuver that the two Americans had employed against her the other day (According to Intelligence reports, it was known as a Thach Weave).

In order to accomplish ensure that every single pilot participated, the three squadrons that comprised the group would each take off from the airfield and fly to the designated practice area above the islands. Each squadron would train for an hour or more, with the pilots rotating at intervals between simulating the maneuver and practicing methods to counter it.

So far, the best tactic for dealing with the weave seemed to be to dive on the enemy planes. If the attacking Japanese pilot didn't shoot either of the planes down, it could at least throw them off and increase the likelihood of the "weavers" either making a mistake that the attacker could exploit or aborting the maneuver all-together.

Thus, in a hypothetical scenario, one flight of Zeros would stalk the targets from above and dive on them, while another would trail them from behind (without directly engaging them, of course), waiting to pounce as soon as the opportunity arose.

For the last round, both Suki and Takara were acting as the Americans, while the pilots from Squadron Three had to shoot them down.

Just as they passed each other, one of the girls dove on Takara, who promptly banked out of the weave altogether, her attacker barely missing the port wing of her aircraft.

" _Baka-yarō_ **(asshole)** ," she cursed over the radio, "You could've killed me!"

Suki chuckled. The humorous interlude was short-lived, however, as Squadron Three's leader, Ensign Ayame Etsuko, took advantage of Takara's absence and dropped in on Suki's six.

"Scratch one Yankee," Ayame chirped softly.

"Make that two," she added as one of her subordinates latched onto Takara's tail.

"Good work, girls," Suki announced over the radio as they regrouped, "Let's get back to base. I think we've all earned a short reprieve."

Some of the other pilots whooped in approval as they turned their Zeros west towards Rabaul.

Suddenly, another airplane whizzed past Suki's cockpit.

 _What the devil was that?! A Yankee trying to get the jump on me?_

Reacting instinctively, she switched off the safeties on her machine guns and cannon, pushed the throttle all the way forward, and sped after the intruder.

The hostile pulled a banking turn to the left. She did the same, and at the distance, there was no way she could miss. Lining up the aircraft within her sights, she prepared to open fire at the… _Zero_ in front of her.

 _What?!_ She blinked. There was no mistaking the shape of those wings that each sported a blood-red _hinomaru_. Unlike her aircraft, however, this one was painted in the grey-green scheme that was usually found on planes operating from aircraft carriers.

As the other plane leveled out, Suki closed the distance and pulled alongside it to get a closer look.

This Zero bore two vertical white stripes on its fuselage, which also sported several pink flowers (possibly kill marks), and another horizontal white stripe on its tail, identifying it as belonging to the carrier _Zuikaku_. The tail also bore a dark-red designation that read _EII-102_.

After a few seconds, the other pilot rocked his wings and accelerated his Zero to a couple kilometers away from Suki. As she watched, he seemed to slow down before pitching up and yawing around 180 degrees. The Immelmann turn he'd just performed now put him at a higher altitude than her.

 _So, he wants to dance?_

"Suki, you okay?" Takara interluded.

"It's fine," Suki responded as her opponent got closer, "There's some carrier pilot here who wants have some fun with me."

"I'll leave you to it, then," Takara acknowledged.

Immediately after the _Zuikaku_ pilot passed over her, Suki executed a Chandelle, rolling her Zero in an upwards banking turn to the left and latching on to the other Zero's tail.

The ensuing chase around the sky lasted for several minutes, with Suki's patience slowly dwindling.

Just as she was considering breaking off and returning to Rabaul, however, the _Zuikaku_ pilot carried out a maneuver she had never seen before.

He banked just slightly to the left, pulled his Zero into a climb and rolled in a left turn.

She watched through the roof of her canopy as he passed overhead before winging over into a smaller turn that put him back on her six.

Now _she_ was the one being chased.

 _Okay, this is getting ridiculous! And I'm probably wasting fuel!_ Though the Zero had an extremely long range, Suki and the other pilots never flew training missions with full tanks, opting to conserve more of the precious fuel for combat missions.

And because they had been airborne for several hours, they had run through a lot of what fuel they'd taken off with. Add to that the amount of time Suki spent "dogfighting" with the pilot from _Zuikaku_ , and it was understandable why she was felt wary about her fuel situation.

A quick glance at her fuel gauge showed that she was nearing what fighter pilots refer to as "bingo fuel," the minimum amount of fuel required for a safe trip back to base.

It was time to disengage.

Suki snapped over into a split-S, rolling inverted and diving for the deck.

She leveled out at around 6,000 meters. To her mild chagrin, the other pilot had followed her through the maneuver.

He seemed to get the message, though, as he did not try to coax her into another "dogfight," instead following her back to Rabaul.

As they passed over Simpson Harbour, the other pilot made no attempt to break off and head for _Zuikaku_. Though he stopped tailing Suki and formed up alongside her starboard wing.

The two approached Lakunai Airfield and made final preparations for landing.

Once the both of them were on the ground, the two pilots taxied towards a pair of vacant revetments and switched off their respective aircraft's engine.

Suki disembarked from her Zero just in time to see her mystery opponent walking towards her. He had removed his flight cap and goggles, revealing a steely face and black hair.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly were you doing back there?"

To her surprise, the pilot simply shrugged,

"Merely seeing if the rumors about you were true. And it seems they are."

He smiled at her, "You are every bit the skilled warrior that everyone claims you to be, Suki Nakamura."

Suki ducked her face to hide the blush that had sprung to her cheeks. Since she wasn't going on a combat mission, she'd left her face devoid of the makeup she normally wore.

"So you know my name," she muttered, "I'm afraid I don't know yours."

"Petty Officer First Class Tetsuzo Iwamoto," the man responded.

Suki wracked her brain, trying to remember where she'd heard his name.

"You're one of those veterans of China, right?"

"There's a lot of those," Iwamoto remarked with a chuckle, "But yes, I did fight over China."

"That maneuver you pulled back there," Suki said, "I've never seen anything like it."

"I call it the 'yo-yo' turn. It can be very useful for shaking an aggressive pursuer."

"Indeed. That was some incredible flying."

Iwamoto's face lit up at the praise,

"Thank you," he then gazed at her inquisitively, "If you'd like, I can teach you how to perform the turn some other time."

"I'd like that," Suki answered with a smile.

"Great! Some other time, though. I'd best be getting back to my carrier, as my shore leave is almost over."

 _Is this how he normally spends his free time?_ Suki wondered to herself. It certainly seemed strange to her, given how she would spend what free time she had in between drills penning letters to her mother or polishing her _katana_.

Then again, who was _she_ to call anyone else strange?

"It was a pleasure to meet you at last," Iwamoto said with a bow.

"Likewise," Suki replied as she returned the bow.

He waved goodbye began the trek back to his Zero.

Suki walked back towards the airfield barracks and was promptly greeted with a smirking Takara.

"What's got you excited, Takara," Suki regarded her second-in-command warily.

"Oh nothing," Takara replied in a mockingly-sweet tone, "Other than seeing my superior flirting with a handsome carrier pilot."

Suki reeled back, the heat returning to her cheeks,

"That's not what that was!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

Suki stammered, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Aha! _"_ Takara remarked, "Now I know what you were _really_ doing during your 'fun time!'"

"Ugh, just shut up!" Suki shouted exasperatedly, pushing past the other girl and heading into the barracks.

After spending a few seconds chuckling to herself, Takara followed her in.

Meanwhile, Iwamoto had started his Zero and taxied onto Lakunai's runway.

With the flaps lowered and the throttle pushed to max, he rolled down the runway and lifted off the ground. He then climbed a little higher, straightened out, and turned towards the myriad of warships anchored in nearby Simpson Harbor.

Unbeknownst to him, however, that myriad was about to get even larger.

* * *

 **So that's Part one of the Preparation "Drabbles" on the Japanese side.**

 **Next Up:**

 **-Vice-Admiral Kondo's reinforcements arrive, along with an unexpected late addition that may or may not reap significant dividends in the coming battle (If any of you are warship buffs, see if you can guess what it (technically, she) is!).**

 **-At Iroh's behest, Admiral Yamamoto calls into question his own grand strategy for engaging the Americans at Guadalcanal.**

 **-Zuko and the other destroyer captains take their ships on practice exercises.**

 **A/N:**

 **In writing the first part, I tapped into the fanboyism we see from Bryke's Satoru in ATLA's _The Rift_ when he encounters Toph and used that to depict his reaction to meeting Nishizawa for the first time.**

 **As for the second part, I mainly looked at texts about fighter maneuvers and watched episodes of _Dogfights_ , the show on the subject that used to play on the History Channel back when it ACTUALLY AIRED SHOWS ABOUT HISTORY!**

 **A brief note on the wrinkles in the fabric of history in this chapter:**

 **\- Honestly, the only significant alterations in this chapter is the types of Japanese aircraft in service at the time, with the exception of the Zero of course. The J1N _Gekko_ and the B6N _Tenzan_ (and therefore the D4Y _Suisei_ dive-bomber) both make early appearances.**

 **As for new historical figures:**

 **-Two of the highest-scoring Japanese fighter pilots of the war, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Tetsuzo Iwamoto, make their first appearances. I'm a little worried about the accuracy of my portrayal of Iwamoto, though. Some sources say he preferred 'hit-and-run' tactics while others say he utilized maneuvers that took advantage of the Zero's agility.**

 **As always, I appreciate your feedback, preferably flame-free. In particular, do let me know what you think about the parts system for the next couple of chapters.**


	4. Preparations (IJN Part 2)

**A/N: A very Merry Christmas, dear readers!**

 **Now that my first semester of college is over, I can get back to writing this story.**

 **Before we begin, a few announcements.**

 **First off, I'm trying to decide whether I should change the title of the story. I feel that** _ **Kyoshi Rising**_ **, while I like it, focuses too much on Suki and the Kyoshi Kōkūtai, while I'm also including Zuko and Iroh in significant parts of the story.**

 **Currently, I'm considering** _ **Storm over the Pacific**_ **as a replacement title. Let me know if I should make the change or stick with the original title.**

 **Second, I know that I had mentioned that this chapter was going to contain the mock torpedo attack. But due to the length of that section, I'm moving it to the next chapter. Apologies for the inconvenience.**

 **Third, I've noticed reviews have been rather scarce. I don't intend to let this influence whether or not I continue the story, but the reviews help me see if there is anything I can improve on. I'll admit my writing is far from perfect. As such, I rely on the opinions of others to better it.**

 **I'm not trying to be an attention whore, I'm simply saying how important receiving feedback on my writing is.**

 **For those who have already reviewed my story, I appreciate your feedback.**

 **Finally, just to go over any acronyms in this chapter:**

 **CruDiv = Cruiser Division**

 **ComDesRon = Destroyer Squadron Commander**

 **CinC = Commander-in-Chief**

 _ **Update Information:**_

 _ **-(2/3/17): Switched the locations of**_ **Kaga _and_ Sōryū _around_. Changed _Akagi_ 's location to Surabaya rather than Singapore.**

 **With those announcements out of the way, let's begin...**

* * *

 **September 16th, 1942  
** **0920 hours  
** **11 kilometers northwest of Rabaul  
** **St. George's Channel  
** **IJN** _ **Atago  
**_ **Tactical Command Centre**

One of the definitive features of _Atago_ was her huge, castle-like tower bridge, a feature synonymous with the four _Takao_ -class heavy cruisers.

While this bridge made her somewhat top-heavy, it also allowed her to accommodate numerous compartments and command centres for directing every vital function ranging from weaponry and fire control to navigation and communication.

This feature was the primary reason that Nobutake Kondō had made _Atago_ his fleet flagship.

Earlier in the day, he'd received word from the battleship _Hiei_ that she and the rest of reinforcements were nearing Papua New Guinea.

Thus, he'd set off aboard _Atago_ for the rendezvous point at Watom Island, about 15 kilometers northwest of Rabaul.

As a safety precaution, the destroyers _Urakaze_ and _Tanikaze_ accompanied the large cruiser as escort.

Currently, Kondō was perusing both a map of the Solomon Islands and intelligence reports on the American warships near Guadalcanal.

Suddenly, however, the "Battle Stations" alarm started blaring, quickly followed by an announcement over the cruiser's PA system,

"All hands to action stations! All hands to action stations!"

Kondō immediately rose from the table and made his way up a level to the compass platform.

He was immediately greeted with _Atago_ 's CO, Captain Matsuji Ijuin, shouting "Admiral on deck!" Kondo hastily returned the salutes before ordering "At ease."

"Talk to me, Ijuin," he demanded.

" _Urakaze_ just reported a sonar contact off her port bow. High probability that it's an American submarine."

"You're certain?" Kondō questioned, though he found his answer when one of the lookouts shouted,

"Torpedoes off the port bow!"

Kondō rushed to one of the many lookout station on _Atago_ 's bridge. The sight he was greeted with confirmed Ijuin's suspicions.

Six torpedoes were knifing through the water towards the three ships from the northwest.

Unlike their IJN counterparts, American torpedoes left an easily-noticeable trail in their wake, making it easier to avoid them.

Behind him, he heard Ijuin barking orders,

"Engines full astern! Rudder hard to port!"

Kondō gripped the railing in front of him as the cruiser lurched to port, her top-heaviness causing her to heel just slightly.

Then, a series of explosions, three to be precise.

He glanced towards _Urakaze_. There was no way she would still be afloat after taking three hits.

Instead, he saw three columns of water rising into the air, indicating premature detonations.

As for _Urakaze_ , she of course remained undamaged.

Meanwhile, Ijuin's evasive maneuvering had saved _Atago_ from two of the remaining torpedoes, both of which in turn missed _Tanikaze_.

One, however, continued on a collision course with the heavy cruiser's port side.

Kondō and the rest of _Atago_ 's crew would witness firsthand the destructive capability of American torpedoes.

 _ **Klonk!**_

Or not…

 _Three premature detonations and a dud. What luck!_ The Japanese Vice-Admiral thought to himself.

 **(Intermission: Yes, American torpedoes [particularly those used aboard submarines] were really that bad at this time in the war. Seriously, look it up if you don't believe me.)**

He then heard a series of splashes, indicating that _Urakaze_ was dropping depth charges.

As the exploding charges sent up geysers of water, _Tanikaze_ cut across _Atago_ to join her sister in hunting the submarine.

"Sir!" A voice called out from behind Kondō.

He turned to a young ensign who handed him a message.

"Our forward air controller asked me to give you this."

The message read:

 **Three flying boats 5 kilometers SE of our position.  
** **Permission to vector them in?**

"Tell him he has my permission," Kondō ordered, "And notify the destroyers of the danger."

The ensign saluted and ran back inside.

Forward air control was a technique whereby ground troops (and by extension, naval vessels) would communicate with strike aircraft via an officer (designated as the Forward Air Controller [FAC]) to effectively coordinate attacks against ground or air targets.

The technique had been borrowed from the _Kriegsmarine_ , who had used it to deadly effect seven months earlier against the British during the infamous Channel Dash.

Within a few minutes, Kondō's ears detected the rumble of airplane engines.

He turned his eyes skyward to see a trio of H8K flying boats approaching from the direction of Rabaul. A closer glance with his binoculars showed each aircraft equipped with four depth charges.

The two destroyers promptly moved away from the drop zone to lessen the likelihood of damage.

With the three ships spectating, the flying boats each made a pass over the submarine's location and released their deadly payload.

Twelve charges went into the sea, twelve geysers rose up.

Having expended their depth charges, the three aircraft then turned for Rabaul.

"Sir!" A lookout shouted, presumably to Ijuin, " _Tanikaze_ reports that she has lost sonar contact!"

As if further confirmation was needed, Kondō noticed a thick film of oil on the water: A grave marker.

Their work done, the ships continued on, their crews jubilant at the day's victory.

 **Very brief timeskip**

 **0925 hours  
** **A few kilometers off of Watom Island**

By now, the reinforcements were just coming within the sights of _Atago_ 's lookouts.

The cruiser and her two smaller escorts lay anchored in the waters off the island, waiting for the temporary fleet to assemble.

At the compass platform, Kondō gazed at the approaching ships through his binoculars.

He first distinguished a pair of _Kongo_ -class battleships. At initial glance, they looked identical.

As they got closer, however, he recognized the experimental tower bridge (a prototype of that on _Yamato_ ) that had been fitted to _Hiei_ during her reconstruction.

 _Kirishima_ , on the other hand, retained her traditional pagoda mast, bristling with searchlights and gun directors.

The two battleships steamed past _Atago_ 's bow and made to lay anchor.

They were soon followed by the cruisers: _Myōkō_ , _Nachi_ , and _Haguro_ of Cruiser Division 5, and _Suzuya_ and _Kumano_ of Cruiser Division 7.

Seeing these battle-hardened veterans of the Dutch East Indies campaign made Kondo swell with confidence. The ships of CruDiv 5, in particular, were all veterans of the Battle of the Java Sea, with _Nachi_ and _Haguro_ delivering the coup de grace to the Dutch flagship _De Ruyter_ and the British cruiser _Exeter_.

After them came the destroyers, which were traveling in a long column.

According to Kondo's report, the destroyer detachment consisted of five vessels of the _Kagerō_ -class, along with an additional three of the newer _Yūgumo_ -class, essentially modified _Kagerōs_ with a redesigned bridge and additional anti-aircraft guns.

As he glanced at the column of ships, however, Kondō noticed something off: There weren't eight destroyers. Rather, there were _nine_.

Moreover, the _Agano_ -class light cruiser that was supposed to be leading the detachment wasn't there.

In its place was an extra destroyer which, at first glance, resembled a _Yūgumo._

To Kondō's mild surprise, this lead destroyer broke formation and steamed towards _Atago_ , traveling at a speed rather fast for her size, while the other vessels continued on to the temporary anchorage.

As the new ship pulled up along the port side of _Atago_ , the other men on her compass platform voiced their surprise and disbelief to each other.

"Where did that ship come from?"

"Did you see how fast it was going?"

"Look at those torpedoes!"

Whilst they continued murmuring amongst themselves, Kondō walked back to the lookout post he'd stood at earlier, this time to take a gander for himself at this new destroyer.

He found that while she resembled a _Yūgumo_ , there were significant differences. For one thing, she was longer and the shape of her bow had more flare to it.

Second, while the _Yūgumos_ mounted two torpedo launchers amidships, this destroyer mounted **three**. And it wasn't just the number of launchers that differed greatly.

Further examination showed that each torpedo launcher had five individual tubes, allowing this destroyer to fire FIFTEEN torpedoes with one salvo.

 _That's enough to scupper an entire flotilla with one well-aimed spread,_ Kondō thought to himself.

For the sake of identifying this ship, he checked the white _hiragana_ inscription on her hull.

 _ **Shimakaze**_

Why hadn't he heard of this destroyer? None of the reports he'd read had mentioned her.

Suddenly, one of _Shimakaze_ 's signal lamps began flashing a message.

 **Atago...Stand by to receive launch...**

Eager to further understand the situation, Kondō meandered his way down the ladders to the main deck and walked to one of the hoists used to lift launches and lifeboats up to the deck.

The launch's passengers, of which there were two, had disembarked by the time he arrived. They promptly turned to face him.

"Vice-Admiral Kondō," the man on the left greeted him with a salute.

He recognized this man as the CO of Destroyer Squadron Three (ComDesRon 3), Rear-Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto.

"At ease, Hashimoto," Kondō ordered.

He then turned to the man standing next to Hashimoto, "And you are?"

"Commander Hiromu Hirose, skipper of destroyer _Shimakaze_."

Kondo returned the man's salute before turning his attention back to Hashimoto,

"I had no idea that you had changed flagships."

Hashimoto nodded in confirmation, "That is correct, sir. Apparently, _Agano_ was suffering engine trouble and is undergoing temporary repairs back at Truk.

"Personally, I think it's going to take a trip back to Kure to get it fixed. Anyways, I needed a replacement, and Hirose's _Shimakaze_ was available."

"I was also unaware that we had a new destroyer," Kondō emphasized his query with a glance towards Hirose.

"Well, we came off the slipway at Maizuru about six months ago. Our construction schedule had been expedited in order to make room for additional _Yūgumos_ and the newer _Akizukis_."

"Yet the reports I've received show no record of your presence."

Hirose shrugged, "Perhaps it was in the interest of secrecy. Or the reports are simply outdated."

Kondō bristled. Why would the Navy keep secrets from its own men?

But he shrugged it off. The apparent secrecy was only a trivial matter.

"Very well. Hashimoto," ComDesRon 3 snapped to attention, "Order your destroyers to follow the rest of the ships back to Rabaul."

"Understood."

Both Hashimoto and Hirose bowed and turned to make their way back to the launch.

After glancing once more towards _Shimakaze_ , Kondō turned to make his way back to the bridge.

For some reason, his thoughts kept straying to the new super-destroyer and how she could prove to be an invaluable asset in the battle to come.

* * *

 **1725 hours  
** **Simpson Harbor  
** **IJN** _ **Yamato  
**_ **Admiral's Cabin**

Yamamoto had never been fond of his flagship, having been one of the most vociferous opponents against her construction and argued that the materials used to build both _Yamato_ and her sister ships could be better spent on aircraft carriers.

But his advice had gone unheeded, and _Yamato_ and _Musashi_ took their places in the Combined Fleet's 1st Battleship Division.

Yamamoto hadn't completely lost the fight, however. In the wake of Pearl Harbor and the Destruction of Force Z, the High Command, apparently having realized the merits of naval aircraft, had made the decision to convert the third and unfinished battleship, _Shinano_ , into a large aircraft carrier.

Additionally, work on two additional such battleships had been stopped and the materials destined for them were recycled into building a new class of fleet-size aircraft carriers.

The first such carrier, _Taihō_ , had been launched the day before the Pearl Harbor attack. According to the reports from Kobe's shipyards, she would be ready for service within the end of the month.

Perhaps there was hope for the Navy after all.

With a smile, the Commander-in-Chief sat himself back down at the table, its only other occupant being none other than Iroh.

A tea set rested between the two men, with a cup filled for each of them.

Yamamoto took a sip from his cup.

"Jasmine tea. Why am I not surprised?"

Iroh smiled as he set his own cup down.

"I find it to be a rather calming drink. It helps alleviate any stress I might be having."

Another sip.

"I've been trying to get Zuko to drink it as well. He's been seeming rather stressed as of late."

"Perhaps the pressures of being a destroyer captain are getting to him," Yamamoto offered, "It's entirely understandable given the action his division has seen."

Iroh shrugged.

"Perhaps. Though it helps that his men look up to him."

"Indeed it does. However, I'm sure you haven't come all this way from _Nagato_ simply to discuss tea or your nephew's well-being."

In response, Iroh's brow furrowed as he frowned contemplatively.

"I'm afraid not, old friend."

"Well then, what is you wanted to speak to me about, Iroh?"

"I thought we could," Iroh trailed off.

"We could what?" Yamamoto urged him to continue.

"We could reassess our strategy for Guadalcanal."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that instead of continuing to carry out piecemeal skirmishes, we go for an all-out attack. We rally together all the ships we have and hit the American fleet with overwhelming force."

"But that would force us to delay our current schedule even further," Yamamoto tried to reason, "We can't waste more time gathering that kind of strength."

"I understand your hesitance, Isoroku," Iroh responded placatingly, "After all, it does go against the Combined Fleet's doctrine.

"But consider this, we've already called in some of our reinforcements, right?"

Yamamoto nodded tersely.

"What if the Americans do the same? What if they bring in additional warships in the time it takes us to sail to Guadalcanal?"

"We would be ensuring that by waiting to gather additional ships of our own!"

"Perhaps. But we will have a better chance of actually finishing them off instead of giving them the opportunity to recuperate."

Of course he would reference Savo Island and the failure to capitalize on Mikawa's stunning victory.

With that, Yamamoto conceded.

"What would you have me do, Iroh?"

"Gather together every operational warship in the vicinity of Rabaul. Inform their commanding officers to link up with our fleet."

Yamamoto nodded and walked over to the cabinet where he kept all of the operational reports sent to him. He procured the most recent files, along with a map, and returned to the table.

He then passed the documents to Iroh, who began perusing them, and laid the map out on the table.

"It looks like we have several ships at anchor in Kavieng," Iroh pointed to the harbor located in New Ireland, north of Rabaul.

"Read them off."

"There's the escort carriers _Ryūjō_ , S _hō_ _hō_ , and _Junyō_ , the battleships _Ise_ and _Hyuga_ , the heavy cruiser _Chōkai_ , plus the four heavy cruisers of the 6th Cruiser Division, the light cruiser _Oyodo_ , and twelve destroyers of the 15th, 24th, and 61st Divisions."

 _Chōkai_ currently served as the flagship for the 8th Fleet, consisting of both herself and CruDiv 6. The fleet was under the command of the victor at Savo Island himself, Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa.

"Inform Mikawa that he is to assume overall command of all the ships there and to prepare to sail to a rendezvous point on my command."

"Where should the rendezvous point be?"

"Bougainville Island," Yamamoto pointed to the landmark at the northern end of the Solomon Islands.

"Our fleet can link up with Mikawa's ships there, and the land-based aircraft accompanying us can use the airfields there to refuel if necessary."

Iroh began writing the appropriate message.

"What about Truk?" Yamamoto questioned.

"Hmmm," Iroh mused as he checked the appropriate report, "It seems _Musashi_ is anchored there on standby."

"We can move her to Kavieng at once. She can give Mikawa additional firepower and, should he desire, a new flagship."

Iroh nodded in approval, appending the order to the message he'd already started on.

"Port Moresby?"

"According to a report from Vice-Admiral Nagumo," Yamamoto's eyes narrowed slightly when Iroh mentioned the man's name, "The aircraft carriers _Sōryū_ and _Hiryū_ are anchored there."

"That's it?"

"I'm afraid so. From what he says, _Kaga_ is conducting raids on Australian shipping and _Akagi_ is undergoing repairs at Surabaya."

Yamamoto paused, remembering that he'd authorized the raids himself. Nagumo had been particularly vehement in his opposition.

"What happened to _Akagi_?"

"Apparently, she was hit by a torpedo from an American submarine."

"No matter," Yamamoto said dismissively, "We'll just have to make do with what he has. Any other ships there?"

"The battleships _Kongo_ and _Haruna_ , the heavy cruisers _Ashigara_ , _Maya_ , _Tone_ , and _Chikuma_ , the light cruisers _Sendai_ and _Noshiro_ , and ten destroyers of the 11th, 19th, and 31st Divisions. There's also nine minesweepers."

"You still have that message?" Iroh nodded in response, "Add another one for Nagumo and the ship commanders there. They are to also make for Bougainville."

Yamamoto took a red pen and began marking the map.

"From there, we can split our forces and attack the Americans in a pincer.

The main body, comprising the ships we currently have, can steam to Guadalcanal down the Slot. Mikawa's and Nagumo's ships can go through the Solomon Sea further south."

"An interesting approach," Iroh commented, "It could use some refinements. May I?"

Yamamoto nodded and handed him the pen.

The two officers continued to plan out their all-out assault.

About fifteen minutes later, they had a fully-realized plan for executing the pincer attack.

Though he didn't dare say it out loud, Yamamoto was impressed with Iroh's strategy. It made him wonder why the man had continually refused a promotion to a more administrative position.

"Any more advice?" The CinC asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Until we're ready to make our move on Guadalcanal, I'd advise halting all bomber raids on Henderson Field and the American ships."

"Why would you suggest that?"

"Because they're depleting the number of serviceable aircraft and combat-ready pilots that we have at our disposal," Iroh answered, "In case you've forgotten, we don't have the luxurious industrial capacity that the Americans do, and therefore can't replace our losses as easily."

"You're right," Yamamoto muttered solemnly, "How stupid of me to forget. What else?"

"If we need to make more of those transport runs down 'The Slot,' it would probably be best to do so at night. It'll help the ships avoid attack from the air and from those PT boats."

Yamamoto said nothing, merely nodding.

His friend seemed to hesitate before firmly gripping his shoulder again,

"I know you don't like breaking tradition, Isoroku. When faced with uncertainty, however, patience is always the best option."

He looked up at Iroh with a smirk.

"Unbelievable. Me, Commander-in-Chief of the entire Navy, heeding the advice of a mere battleship captain? I'll never hear the end of it."

Iroh chuckled, "At least I'm more reliable than those harping fools in the Army."

"That's not saying much," Yamamoto retorted with an amused huff, "You're implying that those hotheads can actually provide reliable information."

The two men shared a laugh.

"I have to ask, though," Yamamoto questioned once the two had calmed down, "What made you come and speak to me about this?"

"I must be getting back to _Nagato._ The destroyer skippers are going to run a mock torpedo attack. And both _Amagi_ and my ship are to be the targets."

"I see. Well, off with you."

Iroh rose from his seat.

"And you can keep the tea set. I have plenty more aboard _Nagato_."

"Of course you do," Yamamoto remarked with a chuckle, "You're practically addicted to that stuff."

The two laughed again before Iroh bowed, and bade farewell.

"Until next time, old friend."

 _Hopefully, there will_ _ **be**_ _a next time_ , Yamamoto thought to himself as Iroh left the cabin.

The CinC looked down at the map and sighed.

While Iroh's plan was excellent, it required sending a rather large portion of the Combined Fleet's operational ships, including eleven of its thirteen battleships, into combat.

Such a maneuver would surely raise eyebrows among the High Command, who would then wonder why Yamamoto wasn't conserving the ships for the "decisive battle" against the entirety of the American Pacific Fleet.

But if his old friend's reasoning was correct, _this_ would be the decisive battle.

If Japan lost Guadalcanal, then any hope she had of regaining the offensive would be gone.

And even if the island, along with nearby Tulagi, was retaken, if the Navy lost too many ships in the process, it would be unable to maintain parity with that of the United States.

Yamamoto downed the cup of tea in front of him, letting the warm liquid and its blissful aroma smother his worries for the time being.

Perhaps he would ask Iroh to bring more of this stuff. He would most certainly need it.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **To recap:**

 **-The reinforcements from Truk have arrived, along with quite possibly the most powerful and definitely the fastest destroyer of her time: the** _ **Shimakaze**_ **. Boasting fifteen torpedo tubes, each capable of firing the deadly Long Lance, and a high-pressure steam engine that gives her a 39 knots speed, she is a force to be reckoned with.**

 **-Iroh has convinced Admiral Yamamoto to revise his grand strategy towards an all-out assault with the full might of the Combined Fleet rather than piecemeal attacks. Whether it will pay off, one can't say.**

 **Note that I haven't included a synopsis for the next chapter because I'm still planning out everything that's going to be in it.**

 **As for the wrinkles in the fabric of history:**

 **-The IJN never thought to revise their doctrine for engaging the Pacific Fleet in real life**

 _ **-Shimakaze**_ **has entered service several months ahead of schedule**

 **-The conversion process for** _ **Shinano**_ **has started early (In real life, it was started after the disaster at Midway)**

 _ **-Taihō**_ **is due to enter service FAR earlier than she did in real life**

 **-The light cruisers _Oyodo_ and _Noshiro_ also make early appearances**

 **-As was mentioned in the first chapter, _S_** ** _hō_ _hō_** **has survived the Battle of the Coral Sea**

 **All information regarding the interior layout of** _ **Atago**_ **comes from Janusz Skulski's** _ **Anatomy of the Ship: The Heavy Cruiser Takao**_ **, the definitive book on** _ **Takao**_ **and her three sister ships.**

 **As always, please let me know if there's anything that needs improvement or clarification.**

 **See you next chapter, and have a happy new year!**


	5. Orders Received (Extra & ANNOUNCEMENT)

**Hey, readers!**

 **I have an important announcement to make at the end. For now, however, enjoy this little "extra."**

* * *

 **September 16th, 1942  
** **2045 hours  
** **Truk Lagoon  
** **IJN** _ **Musashi  
**_ **Captain's Cabin**

Captain Kaoru Arima awoke from his nap to a knocking on his door.

 _This had better be important_ , he thought to himself, "Come in!"

The door opened and in stepped a young ensign, a paper in his hand,

"Urgent message from Admiral Yamamoto, sir."

Arima took the message from the ensign and dismissed him. Once he was alone again, the 42-year old battleship skipper read the message:

 _ **Sail to Kavieng ASAP and await further orders.**_

– _ **CinC Yamamoto**_

This was unexpected, to say the least. While _Musashi_ had been on standby for almost twenty-four hours, Arima hadn't taken the order entirely seriously.

Unlike her older sister, which had participated in both the sinking of the carrier _Hornet_ AND the invasion of Midway Island, _Musashi_ had yet to see any significant action, leading to a generally lax attitude towards crew readiness at all levels.

Which was why every sailor aboard the giant battleship, enlisted man and officer alike, was dumbstruck either by the sight of Captain Arima racing from his cabin all the way up to the bridge, barking commands at the top of his lungs, or by the order to make ready for immediate departure from Truk.

Nevertheless, about two hours later, _Musashi_ , escorted by the light cruiser _Yubari_ and a ragtag flotilla of destroyers, which had only just arrived, steamed out of Truk Lagoon on course for Kavieng Harbor in Papua New Guinea.

Everyone aboard the ships was thinking the same thing.

 _What the hell is going on?!_

* * *

 **Bismarck Sea  
** **A few kilometers just west of Kavieng, New Ireland  
** **IJN** _ **Chōkai  
**_ **Compass Platform**

Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa read over the message that he'd received once more:

 _ **Assume overall command of all warships anchored at Kavieng.**_

 _ **Battleship Musashi en route to Kavieng and should arrive within next day. Transfer flag if necessary.**_

 _ **Make preparations to sail on my command. Destination will be sent in accompanying message.**_

– _ **CinC Yamamoto**_

While Yamamoto hadn't specified where they would be going, Mikawa had his suspicions.

 _Guadalcanal._

He felt positively eager to get underway. At last, he would be able to finish what he had started two months earlier off of Savo Island and destroy the American naval presence in the region once and for all.

For now, however, he contented himself with watching the battleships _Ise_ and _Hyuga_ conduct gunnery exercises, his mind already formulating what he hoped was a sound plan of attack for the coming confrontation.

* * *

 **Waters off of Port Moresby  
** **IJN** _ **Sōryū  
**_ **Bridge**

The men on the bridge watched as flights of B5N torpedo bombers from both their carrier and _Hiryū_ made a practice attack run on the heavy cruiser _Ashigara_.

Among those present was the commander of the 1st Air Fleet, more colloquially known as _Kido Butai_ , himself: Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo.

"Sir!" A voice called from behind him.

He turned to face one of his junior staff officers.

The young man saluted and handed him a telegram,

"Message from the Commander-in-Chief."

As soon as he'd heard the phrase "Commander-in-Chief," Nagumo felt a swoop of anger in his gut.

Even if Yamamoto's strategy had worked so far, that didn't make Nagumo think any better of the man. He was still furious over the CinC's recent decision to split _Kido Butai_ and send the carrier divisions that comprised it in different directions. It didn't help that he also had the gall to take Nagumo's two best carriers as part of his entourage to Guadalcanal.

Most frustrating, however, was his decision to send _Akagi_ and _Kaga_ on another raid against Australian shipping, a decision that had led to _Akagi_ blundering across the path of an American submarine, taking a torpedo amidships, and being forced to limp all the way to the port of Surabaya in Indonesia for repairs.

The news of the incident had rankled Nagumo, as submarine attacks were always a grave concern of his. The fact that his former flagship had almost suffered such a fate had angered him so much that he'd immediately issued an order for _Kaga_ to call off the raid entirely and return to Port Moresby.

Nagumo remembered that he'd forgotten to confirm that order with Yamamoto, so as far as the CinC knew, _Kaga_ was still in Australian waters. However, he brushed that concern off and read the telegram he'd just been handed:

 _ **Make preparations to sail on my command.**_

 _ **Destination will be sent in next message.**_

 _ **-CinC Yamamoto**_

"Why are his orders never clear?" Nagumo grumbled to himself.

"Sir?" the staff officer questioned.

"Forget it," the commander of _Kido Butai_ replied, "We will continue carrying out the training exercises as planned. Hopefully, _Kaga_ will rejoin us before we are ordered to depart. Dismissed."

The officer bowed and made his exit. Nagumo returned his attention to the training exercise.

As he watched the Zeros from both of his carriers practice dogfighting tactics, he couldn't help but shake the fact that Yamamoto was planning something big. The man had taken a lot of firepower with him to Guadalcanal. So why would he need more?

The only reason that Nagumo could think of was that he was probably planning another decisive operation to crush more of the American fleet.

Nagumo wasn't sure if he liked that.

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed this little extra!**

 **First, to respond to the most recent reviews. I've started doing this since I can't PM everyone who posts reviews here:**

* * *

 **cj: Thank you for saying that. Research is a big part in writing this story. I'm glad to see that it's paying off.**

 **fulcrum101: Oh trust me,** _ **Yamato**_ **and** _ **Musashi**_ **will see plenty of action when the Battle at Guadalcanal goes down. I can't include them and NOT have them fire their 18.1-inch guns in anger.**

 **HBTW: As the adage goes, you learn something new every day. On the other hand, I'm glad you love this story, and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of it.**

 **Wilhelm: I'm happy to hear that. As for your question, I'd been wanting to write a piece about the Pacific War from the Japanese perspective for a while. I finally got the idea to do so with this story from another fanfic author by the name of** _ **fanwright**_ **, who wrote an awesome oneshot called** _ **Flying Tiger, Crouching Dragon**_ **, in which Sokka is a member of the American Volunteer Group, the legendary "Flying Tigers," during the war in China. If you enjoy my story, I'd recommend reading this one as well.**

* * *

 **Now, for the important announcement:**

 **I'm going on a hiatus from writing WWII-themed stories, which unfortunately include this story. I made this decision for two reasons, which I'll explain below.**

 **First, since I'm back in college again, I now have the pressures of homework, tests, etc. on my back again. That really limits how much time I have to write, especially when I'm writing a story as research-intensive as this. Add to that the fact that my sleep cycle has been upended for whatever godforsaken reason, and I'm feeling as burnt-out as the** _ **Wehrmacht**_ **after Stalingrad (okay, that's an exaggeration, but still).**

 **Second, as much as I enjoy writing this story, I want to broaden my horizons a little and try writing something different. I'm toying with the idea of writing fanfiction of the show** _ **RWBY**_ **.**

 **Again, I'm not abandoning this story, I simply need more time to work on it, time which I currently do not have. As such, while I** _ **am**_ **going to continue writing and updating this story, things are going to be proceeding at a much slower pace.**

 **I will try and update** _ **Tales from the Tokitsukaze**_ **at some point, since I already kind of have a third chapter, but it will be hard.**

 **To those of you who have enjoyed my stories so far, I apologize for treating you like this. I really appreciate that you've given my work a chance. It's really motivated me to continue writing.**

 **At the same time, I figured you would appreciate it more if I gave you a chapter that actually had content pertaining to the story in it rather than one that ONLY had my "vacation notice." One of my pet peeves is when I get a notification that a story I'm currently following has been updated and I open it, expecting a new chapter, only to find that all the chapter has** **is a note saying that the author is ditching the story for something else. What really irks me is if they don't offer a good reason. Since you all take time out of your lives to actually read my story, I'd rather not do the same thing to you.**

 **With that out of the way, thank you all for your time, and I'll see you for the next chapter.**


End file.
